MONTICELLO — The University of Arkansas at Monticello men's basketball team ended the first round of Great American Conference games with a 66-63 loss to Ouachita Baptist at home on Monday night.

It was Ouachita's seventh straight win to keep the Tigers in a tie for first place in the GAC standings.

The Weevils (6-11, 4-7 GAC) got off to a hot start, nailing their first three shots from the floor and eventually using a 14-4 run to take a seven-point lead with eight minutes off the clock.

Ouachita (9-8, 9-2 GAC) struggled from the floor early in the first half, missing 14 of their first 15 shots, but remained close to the Weevils through the first ten minutes, closing to with six points at 14-8 at the midway point.
 
Senior Richard Benedyth extended UAM's lead with a three-pointer to give the Weevils their largest lead of the game at nine before the Tigers went on a 10-2 run, closing the margin to one at 19-18 with five and a half minutes left in the half.  Ouachita responded to force a 22-all tie with three minutes remaining before halftime. That margin remained the same at the break at 28-all.

Senior Andre Brown, who finished with his fourth straight double-double with 20 points and 16 rebounds, nearly hit that double-double mark in the first half with 12 points and nine boards.
 
Ouachita created separation in the first nine minutes of the second half, holding 48-40 lead, but the Weevils began chipping away and were able to cut the deficit down to six with two minutes remaining. Benedyth nailed a three in the final seconds to cut the deficit down to two points, but time ran out on UAM's rally to allow the Tigers to sneak out of Steelman Field House with the win.
 
Ouachita totaled 16 offensive rebounds in the game, giving the Tigers 12 more attempts than UAM, who shot 46 percent from the floor of 25-of-55 shooting.  Ouachita shot 42 percent on the night, hitting 28-of-67 shots. 
 
In addition to Andre Brown's team-high 20 points and game-high 16 rebounds, Benedyth and senior Jerron Washington had 12 points each.
 
Ouachita's Tirrell Brown led all scorers with 28 points.

UAM is back in action on Thursday at home against Southeastern Oklahoma State. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. at Steelman Field House.